USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Reading > Town of Reading Massachusetts annual report 1918 > Part 7
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ADELBERT L. SAFFORD, Secretary
Sub-Committees
A. N. Mansfield
FINANCES AND ACCOUNTS L. F. Quimby J. W. Morton
BOOKS AND SUPPLIES
J. W. Morton Mrs. Ida A. Young W. S. Parker
SCHOOL HOUSES AND PROPERTY
A. N. Mansfield J. W. Morton L. F. Quimby
RULES AND REGULATIONS Mrs. Elizabeth H. Brown L. F. Quimby A. N. Mansfield
L. F. Quimby
TEACHERS AND SALARIES W. S. Parker J. W. Morton
MUSIC AND DRAWING Mrs. Ida A. Young J. W. Morton Mrs. Elizabeth H. Brown
COURSE OF STUDY
L. F. QUIMBY
Mrs. Ida A. Young J. W. Morton
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REPORT OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE, 1918
TO THE CITIZENS OF READING :
The past year has been an eventful year in our country's history. The world war has ceased. We, who are now liv- ing, have witnessed the greatest struggle that the world has ever seen : more nations engaged in the conflict and more men engaged in fighting than ancient or modern history has ever recorded from the beginning of time to the present. It is estimated that 53,000,000 enlisted men took part in the war. The expenses of the war have been enormous and something unparalleled in the world's history. We all hope and trust that a lasting peace will soon begin.
During the past year all thought and all activities have been directed toward the successful ending of the war. All regular.work, educational, industrial and religious, has been disturbed and now that the conflict has stopped our thoughts and endeavors should be concentrated on the critical period of transition from war to peace.
The regular normal work of the schools has been hin- dered and some departments of work slighted or left out entirely. Now is a propitious time to improve our educa- tional activities and make our schools more efficient all along the line. The question is frequently asked, "Are we to frame our courses to fit the pupil for life or merely to be able to earn a living ?" In answer to that question we would most emphatically reply, to do both. The pupil should have something of the liberal, broadening outlook on life that would result from such a course and on the other hand he should take some course that would train him to enter upon a remunerative employment immediately upon graduation.
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The outlook for all young people in the United States is most hopeful. In no country in the world are there such great opportunities for service as in our home land. America is recognized by all the nations as a leader in the march towards an ideal civilization, "a government of the people, by the people, for the people."
Parents are often troubled about which course to advise their children to take in school. Many times the child does not show any special aptitude for the school work offered. Teachers are often in doubt just what to recommend in par- ticular cases.
There is, however, one phase of our educational work that can be emphasized with certainty and from it 'we are sure of educational and personal progress. We refer to the quality of the school work. Emerson says: "It is not so important what you study as with whom you study." If parents, teachers, and all school authorities would put the stress on the pupils' doing the very best work of which he is capable, the school training would in every case be a success, measured in each case by the individual capabilities of the pupil.
According to the report of Mr. Lane, Secretary of the Department of the Interior at Washington, there is a large. number of illiterates in the United States today. Out of the first 2,000,000 in the draft there were found 200,000 who could neither read nor write, many of them native Americans.
According to the United States census, we have over one hundred illiterates in Reading. Our neighboring towns show about the same proportion. It all goes to show that there is yet much to be done in our land before the United States will be really safe for Democracy.
We must train for an intelligent citizenship, actuated by high ideals in civic life and community service, if America is to continue to maintain the leadership which she now possesses.
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The quotation from Emerson calls attention to the im- portance of the teacher in the educational life of the child. We firmly believe that the teacher is by far the most impor- tant factor. The teacher inspires the pupil to great endeavor and unfolds to his youthful imagination the vistas of indi- vidual opportunity.
Before the war the educational system of Germany was held in high esteem by many, but since the war we begin to see it in its true light. The German as part of a great machine was effective but taken alone and required to show some individual initiative he was hopeless. Our own system of education, of government, and of civic life recognizes the high value of personality.
"Personality is the divinest thing in the world, because it is the only creative thing; the only power that can bring to material already existent, a new idea of order and form. Every powerful personality is an open channel through which new truth comes among men." Teachers should take courage to make the most of the individual.
In our report last year we called attention to the neces- sity for increasing the salaries of the teachers. By vote of the town on a special article in the warrant for the Town Meeting, an increase of fifty dollars in the maximum salaries for teachers below the High School was granted. The max- imum is now $750 in grades one to six (the Elementary Schools) and $850 in grades seven and eight (the Junior High School).
The salary committee of the Reading Teachers' Club has asked for a further increase of $50, this year, in the maximum salaries in grades one to eight inclusive. The School Committee has decided to recommend this increase and has included a sum for that purpose in the annual budget.
The increase in numbers has necessitated the opening of a new room in the Lowell Street School. This adds $700 to the item for teachers' salaries.
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The Americanization of our foreign-born citizens and the wiping out of illiteracy which has been discussed else- where in this report can be accomplished in part by an Evening School. The sum of $250 for the purpose of estab- lishing such a school is included in the budget. Also $300 is included to provide for the supervision of penmanship in the Elementary Schools and $375 for a school nurse to coop- erate with the school physician, and give instruction to pro- mote the public health.
Also the School Committee has adopted a new rule in regard to payment of teachers, absent on account of illness. Five days' absence without loss of pay is allowed in case of personal illness or illness or death in the immediate family ( as has been the rule heretofore.). In case of personal ill- ness for more than the five days, the teacher will be allowed one-third of her salary for a period not exceeding one month during the first year of her service in Reading; not exceed- ing two months during her second year of service; and not exceeding three months after two full years of service in Reading. For meeting the expense of this item $500 is esti- mated to be necessary. Altogether for the new room and for new work not carried on in 1918, the sum of $2,125, has been added to the estimates for teachers' salaries for 1919.
The committee has asked for an appropriation of $71,600 for the General Account of the School Budget for 1919. This is about $7,000 more than was expended in 1918.
About $700 of the increase is required for the transpor- tation of pupils. The remainder is for salaries for the new positions and the increased rates paid teachers and janitors. The other items of the budget are no larger than last year's. The sum of $4,400 is asked for to maintain the Agricultural Department. This is the same amount as has been appro- propriated annually for this purpose for the past three years. A more detailed analysis of the budget for 1919 will be found in the letter to the Town Finance Committee, printed elsewhere in this report.
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The terms of office of Mrs. Ida A. Young and Jesse W. Morton expire in March, 1919. These two vacancies are to be filled by election at the next annual town meeting.
WALTER S. PARKER, Chairman LEONE F. QUIMBY ARTHUR N. MANSFIELD
MRS. ELIZABETH H. BROWN
MRS. IDA A. YOUNG JESSE W. MORTON
School Committee.
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REPORT OF SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS, 1918
TO THE HONORABLE, THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE OF THE TOWN OF READING, MASSACHUSETTS :
In the following pages the twenty-sixth annual report of the Superintendent of Schools is respectfully submitted for your consideration.
During the year 1918 the schools have been carried on under conditions which in many respects have been extraor- dinary. The war, the weather and the epidemic both jointly and severally have been serious disturbing elements. The long period of extreme cold coincident with the shortage of fuel in the winter of 1918 made the heating of the school- houses difficult and expensive. Lack of fuel did not cause the schools to close in Reading as was the case for consider- able periods in many neighboring places. The extreme cold however was too great for a few days to be overcome by the heating facilities of some of the schools-particularly the Prospect Street and Chestnut Hill, and they were closed. Also extensive damage was done by the freezing of the pipes in the Chestnut Hill, High, Center and Union Street school- houses. In the other schoolhouses the damage from freezing was slight and great credit is due to the janitors of these buildings for the efforts they made to care for their build- ings and prevent injury during this trying period. In many cases the janitors tended their fires all night and made fre- quent inspections to see that the pipes were not freezing.
In some neighboring towns and cities the damages from freezing in schoolhouses amounted to thousands of dollars.
During October, 1918, all of the schools were closed for four weeks on account of the prevalence of "Spanish In- fluenza."
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While none of the teachers and few of the pupils have died from the disease the number of fatalities in the town, especially among the younger adults has been alarming and justified the radical measures undertaken to check the spread of the disease. The loss of four weeks necessarily interferred seriously with the progress of the pupils in their studies. There have been other distracting influences also.
The acute shortage of labor owing to the mobilization of men for the army and navy and for industrial war work has led to unprecedented demands for children in industrial positions. Large numbers of boys and girls over fourteen years of age left school to engage in gainful occupations -- sometimes earning enormous wages. Numerous instances have been noted where pupils on leaving school received much greater compensation than their teachers receive in the schools. The pupils who remained in school have found employment for wages in large numbers out of school hours. Other pupils cultivated extensive home gardens, others over 16 years old enlisted in the Boys' Working Reserve and left school a month early and returned in the fall a month late in order to spend four months in food pro- duction on farms and thus contribute their bit towards win- ning the war. Also a considerable number of pupils and some teachers were engaged in munition factories or other war work during the summer vacation and in a few instances for longer periods. Several of the older boys enlisted in the army or navy.
Patriotic propaganda of one sort or another has diverted the attention of pupils constantly throughout the year. There have been Liberty Bond Campaigns, Thrift and War Savings Stamp Clubs, War Service Organization drives, Red Cross work, special Boy and Girl Scout war service activi- ties, Four Minute Speakers in school and at outside public meetings and various patriotic celebrations culminating in a two-days' festival following the announcement of the sign- ing of the armistice.
With all these distractions the wonder is that the pro- gress of the pupils in their studies has been interfered with so little.
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Undoubtedly there have been losses that will never be made up but there have been compensations and great gains -particularly in moral values which will perhaps more than offset the losses.
The scholastic accomplishments exacted by the govern- ment from men seeking to enter preferred lines of service, also the elaborate military training schools have profoundly impressed the pupils in the public schools with the high value which the government places on education, even for so materialistic and practical and brutal an undertaking as waging war. This point of view was a revelation to a certain type of boy who looks upon the study of books as nonsense and desires to get out of school and do something real. There have been many other important moral and intellec- tual stimuli occasioned by the war. They need not be enum- erated here but it is not too much to hope that they have served to prepare our young people to bear their parts honor- ably in the new era which the dawn of peace will usher in.
TEACHERS AND SALARIES
The scarcity of good teachers has been another extraor- dinary condition of school administration in 1918. The causes of this condition are easy to understand. Only two need be mentioned : the withdrawal of men from teaching to enter the war and the much higher salaries offered women in other lines of work as in hospitals, business offices and factories.
The falling off in the enrollment of the State Normal Schools is truly alarming. High School teachers of Science, Mathematics and Commercial branches available to fill vacancies at the salaries prevailing at the beginning of 1918 are about as plentiful as "snakes in Ireland." Fortunately in the elementary schools, grades 1 to 6, Reading has lost no regular teachers during the past two years, 1917 and 1918, except Miss Fielder, Miss Doran and Miss Mathewson, who resigned on account of marriage. These vacancies were filled by the appointment of three residents of Reading, Miss Smith, Miss Perry and Miss Leavis. In the Junior High School, grades 7 and 8, in 1917 no teacher resigned ; in
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1918 the teacher of penmanship, typewriting and business practice left to accept a position to teach commercial branches in a High School at a salary considerably higher than she was receiving in Reading; the teacher of physical training accepted a similar position in her native city, Som- erville, at a slightly increased salary ; and the man, teaching manual training, went to Springfield, Massachusetts, at an increase of two hundred dollars.
The commercial position was filled by the appointment of Mrs. Lucas, a resident of Reading; the manual training position was accepted by Mr. Fancy, a resident of North Reading. The physical training teacher who came from Medford was married in a few months and was succeeded by the present incumbent, Miss Lengyel, a graduate of the Sargent School who taught previously in Western New York. These changes just enumerated are the only ones occuring in the Elementary Schools and in the Junior High School in the past two years. Satisfactory local candidates, except in the case of the physical training position, made the filling of these positions an easy and agreeable matter.
In the High School the situation in respect to teachers in the past two years has been less satisfactory. In 1917 the High School lost the services of its able teacher of agriculture, Mr. Powers, but was most fortunate in securing an equally competent man to succeed him at the same salary. Mr. Keaney, the science teacher and athletic coach, resigned to enter a manufacturing establishment as chemist; Miss Lombard, teacher of bookkeeping and supervisor of penmanship, the teacher oldest in service in the High School, accepted a most attractive business position; Miss Purnell, teacher of Latin, resigned to be married. In 1918, the changes in teaching force came thick and fast : seven of the fourteen positions besides the principal and teacher of agriculture became vacant-two of the positions became vacant twice and one three times, making eleven new regu- larly appointed teachers besides temporary substitutes, too numerous to mention, within the year. Moreover, prior to 1918, two of the positions were held by men; now all are
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filled by women. The agricultural teacher is now acting as athletic coach and instructor in gymnastics, although he receives no extra compensation for this work and is doing it in his own time after teaching the full time prescribed by the Massachusetts Board of Education for teachers in state- aided departments of agriculture. Also the position of clerk in the High School office has been discontinued and these duties are now performed by two of the teachers, who in addition to teaching, assist in the administration of the school. Some of the older pupils in the commercial classes also render clerical assistance in the school office constantly, and the commercial teachers are always ready to render assistance when needed. A large amount of clerical work has also been done in the school office for the Liberty Loan and other drives during the past year.
Of the eleven High School teachers who resigned dur- ing 1918, the first, Miss Gilmore, head of the Commercial Department, and Assistant Principal, went to teach in the Boys' Commercial High School in New York City, at an ad- vance of fifty per cent in her salary, which was $1200 here and $1800 there, with annual increases to $2400, or more. Miss Berthold, teacher of German, went to the Central High School at Springfield, Massachusetts, at an increase of twenty per cent in her salary, which was $1000 here and $1200 there, with annual increases to $1500, or more. Mrs. Hayes, teacher of Spanish, went to Passaic, New Jersey, with an equally tempting salary and promises of further advancement. Her successor, Miss Jefts, left to enter the U. S. Military Hos- pital Training School for Nurses. Mr. Mayo, teacher of science and mathematics, and athletic coach, left to enter military service but has since returned to teaching, at the Essex County Agricultural School, at double the salary of #1000 at which he came to Reading. Miss Fernald was en- gaged to teach science and mathematics, in place of Mr. Mayo, at a salary of $800. After one week's service she left to take a similar position in a High School near New York City, at a salary of $1500. Miss Mansfield, teacher of com- mercial arithmetic and typewriting, resigned to go into a business office in Boston and was succeeded by Miss Bronson,
.
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at a salary of $800, which was increased to $900 after a few months' service. During the summer vacation Miss Bron- son accepted a position in Wellesley High School, at a large advance in salary. Miss Skinner, the young lady who suc- ceeded Miss Bronson, was offered, in a few weeks, a position in the Wilmington High School and her salary was increased to $800. Shortly afterwards she accepted a position in a Boston business office. Miss Young, teacher of history, resigned to take up commercial pursuits. Mr. Humphries, teacher of French and coach of the debating club and Four Minute Speakers, went to Tabor Academy, Marion, Massa- chusetts, at an increase of more than fifty per cent of the salary he had received in Reading up to September, 1918, which was $1100. He began his new position at $1800, with promise of regular advancement to $2800. Besides the teachers who have resigned, several other teachers have received insistent calls to service elsewhere, at salaries con- siderably in advance of what they are receiving here. They have remained because they enjoy their work here. One of them, not a resident of Reading, said she would teach in Reading for $200 less a year than she would teach anywhere else. Four High School teachers were advanced from $1000 to $1200. At least two of these have received, since, offers of $1400 to go elsewhere.
It seems to be clearly demonstrated that the teachers that Reading has had in the High School in the past five years cannot be retained long at the salaries that have been paid.
There is not one High School teacher that was in the school previous to September 1913, when the present princi- pal entered upon service; two have been here five years, one four years, one three years, and the others two years or less. The obvious inference is that the town must raise salaries or lower the quality. It has often been possible to replace a good teacher, who has received promotion to a higher salary, by another younger teacher who will be equally satisfactory after she has established herself, but during the past year it has become more and more difficult to secure such
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teachers. It has been almost impossible to secure good men teachers at any price less than $1800 to $2000, which was prohibitive with our budget.
SCHOOL ACCOMMODATIONS
Every available schoolroom in Reading is occupied. Some rooms are crowded. The problem of providing for im- mediate needs and for future growth is a serious one and ought to receive the thoughtful attention of the citizens. A mere hand to mouth policy is always unsatisfactory and more expensive in the long run. This problem ought to be considered in the light of the probable needs of the town for the next ten or twenty years.
The Highland Schoolhouse has ten regular schoolrooms and a manual training room. There is a household arts house adjacent. Also ten classes from the Junior High School recite at the Senior High School. There are about four hundred and thirty pupils in attendance at the High- land School at present. Approximately one hundred and seventy-five of these, two fifth grade rooms and two sixth grade rooms, belong to the Center District Elementary School, the remaining grades of which are located in the Center and Union Street Schoolhouses near Reading Square. The Highland Schoolhouse is located outside of the Center district within the limits of the Lowell Street district and is therefore too remote from many localities in the Center district. There are approximately 265 pupils in the Junior High School.
According to eminent authorities the number of pupils to each teacher in a Junior High School should be about twenty. On account of lack of room it is necessary at pre- sent to have some of the classes double that size. Provisions should be made in a school building near Reading Square for the pupils now in the fourth, fifth and sixth grade rooms in the Highland Schoolhouse and this building should be devoted wholly to the Junior High School. The ideal solu- tion would require the abandonment of the Center and Union Street buildings for school purposes and the erection of a sufficiently commodious modern brick schoolhouse on an
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ample lot of land near the new memorial park. There are four rooms at the Union Street Schoolhouse and six at the Center. To replace these and the four rooms to be vacated at the Highland Schoolhouse and to provide for future growth in this district would require at least a sixteen room building. This could be easily planned so that four or more rooms could be added when needed. The cost of such a building would be considerable but would be a splendid asset to the town twenty years from now just as the High- land Schoolhouse is today.
The State Inspector of schoolhouses has urgently recom- mended new heating and ventilation, and improved stair- ways and fireproof partitions for the Center Schoolhouse. Consideration of this matter was deferred on account of war conditions. The Union Street Schoolhouse is much better than the Center but the State Inspector has requested an enlargement of the ventilation ducts and other improve- ments to afford better fire protection.
If the citizens of the town should feel that they could not afford a large building adequate to accommodate all the pupils of the Center district, the alternative would seem to be the erection of a six or eight room building on the most available lot near the Square.
The Prospect Street Schoolhouse was enlarged not long ago but is already filled to its capacity. In some of the rooms there are nearly fifty pupils which is far too great a number with which to obtain the best results. It was fore- seen when the previous enlargement was made that another would be required in from three to five years if the rate of growth was maintained. Accordingly, the alterations then undertaken were made with a view to the building of four more rooms on the northwesterly side of the present struc- ture. Recently a new room was opened in the Lowell Street Schoolhouse, in which there are now about thirty-five pupils for each room. This is a very good number but it would be possible to transfer a few pupils from the vicinity of Hancock Street in the Prospect Street district and thus equalize the numbers in the two buildings. This, however, would afford only a temporary relief.
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If a new schoolhouse should be erected near Reading Square it would be feasible to relieve the Prospect Street School temporarily by transferring pupils from the vicinity of the Reading station of the Boston & Maine Railroad to the Centre School.
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